T H E L A B O U R L E A D E R S H I P C R I S I S
DANIELLA BENNETT REMINGTON
As with nearly every aspect of British politics, Brexit had a profound impact on the Labour party. The official Labour position on Britain’ s relationship with the European Union was in support of remaining a member state. Therefore, when the Remain campaign’ s loss drew a great deal of criticism, specifically for ineffectual campaigning, a significant portion of this was directed at the Labour party. When this criticism began to be levied from Labour MPs themselves towards their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, with many subsequently resigning, this eventually led to a vote of no confidence in him. The resulting leadership crisis led to a leadership election, fought between Owen Smith and Jeremy Corbyn. Despite the crisis officially lasting from 22nd August- 24th September, when Jeremy Corbyn was reelected leader, the effects are still being felt within the party today and for the immediate future a resolution doesn’ t seem likely.
Within Labour there was an unofficial group, who referred to themselves as‘ Labour Leave’. The main figures involved in their campaign were Kate Hoey( MP for Vauxhall), Graham Stringer( MP for Blackley and Broughton), Kelvin Hopkins( MP for Luton North), Roger Godsiff( MP for Birmingham Hall Green) and John Mills, the founder and largest single donor to the Labour party. However, Jeremy Corbyn was not part of this group, he was supposed to be a leading figure in the Remain campaign, it should have been without a shadow of a doubt that people knew he opposed to a British withdrawal from the EU.
In his earlier political career, Corbyn was a noted Eurosceptic, the traditional stance of the Labour party. In fact, as recently as 2011, Corbyn backed the proposal for a
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